Can you imagine developing the core ideas behind search engines like Google, decades before the internet even existed? Or designing the first portable movie camera and commercial 35mm camera with interchangeable lenses in the early 20th century?
Well, such pioneering innovations across photography, information systems and automation were conceived by Emanuel Goldberg over his prolific 5 decade inventive career spanning from Czarist Russia to Nazi Germany all the way to nascent Israel. Yet his name fails to ring a bell for most people today – an oblivion he doesn‘t deserve given his visionary breakthroughs that enabled much of modern technology.
So come, let me walk you through Goldberg‘s eventful life and multifarious inventions touching diverse fields, while overcoming immense odds stacked against Jews in his times.
Persevering through antisemitism to gain scientific education
Born in 1881 in Moscow into an upper middle class Russian Jewish family, young Emanuel evinced curiosity about science and engineering early on:
"At the age of six I was shown by a friend of the family how a lever can be used to lighten work. Since then I have been obsessed by the idea that, by using a tool, life can be made more pleasant. To be an engineer seemed to me the highest goal."
But antisemitic quotas severely restricted Jews‘ access to university education and professional careers in Czarist Russia. For instance, at Moscow‘s prestigious Imperial Technical School, only 1 Jewish student was allowed admission annually irrespective of merit. So despite excelling in entrance exams, Goldberg was denied admission in favor of a non-Jewish peer.
Undeterred, Goldberg completed his bachelors in Chemistry from Moscow University, even co-authoring 3 research papers. But ambitions of advanced scientific research necessitated leaving Russia. He moved to Germany in 1904 for his PhD studies at University of Leipzig.
Doctorate with distinction, and swift rise in German optics industry
Remarkably, within just 2 years, Goldberg submitted his chemistry doctoral thesis on ‘Contributions to knowledge of tellurium and selenium oxyacids‘ which earned him the coveted ‘summa cum laude‘ distinction.
His expertise in photochemistry and spectroscopy secured Goldberg top research positions in Germany over the next decade. After a stint at Technical University of Berlin-Charlottenburg, he became the Head of Photographic Department from 1907-17 at the prestigious Royal Academy of Graphic Arts and Bookcraft in Leipzig.
| Year | Key Career Milestones |
|---|---|
| 1904 | Enrolls for doctoral study at Leipzig University |
| 1906 | Awarded PhD summa cum laude at age 25! |
| 1907-17 | Head of Photography dept., Royal Academy of Graphic Arts and Bookcraft, Leipzig |
| 1917 | Recruited as Director at Zeiss Ikon camera company, Dresden |
| 1926 | Becomes Chairman of the Board at merged mega-entity Zeiss Ikon AG |
Goldberg‘s talents were soon noticed by Carl Zeiss, the marquee German optics company. He was recruited as Director of Zeiss‘ camera production arm – ICA AG in Dresden. This marked his entry into designing cameras, lenses and imaging devices.
Pioneering innovations in cameras and cinematography
As Director of ICA AG, Goldberg introduced several advances in camera technology, such as the portable Kinamo movie camera in 1918. This was among the first spring-driven cameras that could shoot up to 30 minutes of film continuously without needing cumbersome external power sources!
Over 1920s, Zeiss strategically merged its camera production capabilities across 4 firms into a centralized giant called Zeiss Ikon AG. Goldberg was appointed Chairman of this powerhouse company. Some landmark innovations he spearheaded included:
- Contax camera (1932): The first 35mm camera with interchangeable lenses, considered a landmark innovation that shaped modern photography.
- Micro-Zeiss Cora system (1927): Automated microscope-camera instrument using mechanical sorters to analyze and catalog microscopic slide preparations.
Clearly Goldberg pioneered integrating optics, imaging and automation years before the digital revolution!
Conceiving automated library search engines in the pre-internet age!
In what seems like an astonishing feat of prescience today, Goldberg published conceptual designs in 1930 for a statistical machine that could automate the classification and search of massive document archives! This was 25 years before computer databases emerged. He described a system with:
- Photo-electric cells to scan pages and convert information to electrical signals
- Thermionic valves (early electronic amplifiers) to drive logic circuits
- Automated motors to physically retrieve matching books/journals
This architecture uncannily matches modern search engine infrastructure relying on web crawlers, servers and algorithms!
Just imagine, all this when most computers filled entire rooms, without transistors or programming languages! Goldberg surely had an intuitive vision of an interconnected electronic information age decades in advance.
Fleeing the Nazis and nurturing innovation ecosystem in Israel
Goldberg‘s glorious years as research head at Zeiss however met an abrupt end in 1933 with his forced ouster by the Nazi regime. He had to flee Germany overnight to evade arrest, ending up in Paris to work for Zeiss‘ French office.
As WWII broke out, Goldberg chose to immigrate to the British Palestine mandate in 1937. At age 56, when most would eye retirement, he embarked on an audacious new chapter – founding a technology company! He established Goldberg Instruments laboratory in Rehovot in 1937 specializing in optics and defense electronics.
This laid the genesis of ‘Electro-Optical Industries Ltd‘ (El-Op) in 1948, with Goldberg as Chief Scientist. The company pioneered optical tracking systems, leveraging Goldberg‘s expertise for Israeli defense needs during the violent birth of the nation in 1948 amid the Arab-Israeli war.
In the 1950s, El-Op emerged as a market leader in optical devices for civilian and military use. Some advances under Goldberg‘s stewardship were – stabilized binoculars, infrared vision systems, lasers for missile guidance and even an optical computer keyboard!
The lab nurtured technological talent strong enough to withstand Goldberg‘s departure in 1960. Researchers he mentored built upon his work over next decades to make El-Op one of Israel‘s most reputed defense technology corporates.
Recognizing an unsung pioneer
Emanuel Goldberg‘s perseverance and creativity through immense adversity in turbulent early 20th century epochs makes his achievements all the more remarkable.
He migrated across 4 countries, rebuilt his career from scratch multiple times in advanced middle age, learning new languages and overcoming discrimination. All while catalyzing breakthrough innovations spanning old-world optics to new-world information systems!
His 1930 ideas on search engine architecture using photoelectric digitization and statistical analysis uncannily foretold certain key internet technologies decades in advance. Coupled with revolutionary camera and imaging devices from his Zeiss years, Goldberg‘s legacy touches the foundation of photography, automation and information retrieval as we know them today.
So let‘s celebrate this restless soul and his pioneering mind, whose visions and innovations enabled so many key disruptions of the information age, even if he remains lesser known than some peers. The next time you snap a photo on your SLR, recall Goldberg‘s role in shaping 35mm interchangeable lens cameras. And if you ever marvel at the millions of search results Google pulls up in a fraction of a second, spare a thought for Goldberg‘s futuristic 1930 search engine manifesto!
